Trump falsely implies Taylor Swift endorses him
Donald Trump seems to have falsely suggested he has Taylor Swift’s endorsement by sharing doctored images on social media showing the singer and her fans supporting him.
He posted the message “I accept!” alongside these images, which were sourced from other social media accounts and appear to have been generated with artificial intelligence.
This post triggered backlash from Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, who accused Trump of spreading false information. Taylor Swift has not endorsed any candidate for the 2024 election; she supported Democrats in 2020 and criticized Trump during his presidency.
One of the images shared by Trump featured Swift fans in t-shirts with the slogan “Swifties for Trump.” Additionally, the post included a “satire” label with a headline suggesting that Swifties were turning to Trump after an ISIS-related incident disrupted a Taylor Swift concert.
Swift recently canceled three concerts in Vienna following a possible security threat. Police arrested two people on suspicion of planning attacks inspired by the Islamic State group.
Another re-posted photo mimicked a World War One US army recruiting poster, which replaced Uncle Sam’s face with Swift’s and read: “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump”.
NBC News reported two of the images Trump re-posted feature real women who are Trump supporters.
Swift supported the Democratic Party in the 2020 election and criticized Trump during the nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?,” she posted on Twitter/X. “We will vote you out in November.”
Earlier this year, BBC discovered dozens of deepfakes portraying black people supporting Trump. There was no evidence linking the images to Trump’s campaign.
